Canadians getting fatter and spend more on drugs than on doctors

[Guest guest]

http://www.rense.com/general54/canadiansspendmoreon.htm

----------

----

Rense.com

 

----------

----

 

 

 

Canadians Spend More On

Drugs Than On Doctors

By Dennis Bueckert

Canadian Press

6-24-4

 

 

OTTAWA -- Canadians spent a mind-boggling $19.6-billion on prescription and

non-prescription drugs last year, almost half as much as they spent on

hospitals and more than they spent on doctors.

 

Total drug spending rose an estimated 8.1 per cent in 2003, far outstripping

inflation, says a report released Tuesday by the Canadian Institute for

Health Information (CIHI).

 

Per capita spending on medicine more than quadrupled from 1985 to 2003, to

$620.

 

Among 11 industrialized countries ranked by the Organization for Economic

Co-operation and Development, only Japan, France and Hungary devoted a

larger share of health spending to drugs.

 

Even though drugs are not covered by medicare except when administered in

hospital, 47.2 per cent of the prescription drug bill was financed by the

public sector last year, up from 42.5 per cent five years earlier.

 

The public share is likely to increase, since the 2003 health accord commits

governments to coverage of so-called catastrophic drug costs. Both the

Liberals and Conservatives say they will uphold the 2003 accord.

 

Drug costs in Canada are regulated by the Patented Medicine Prices Review

Board, and are lower than U.S. prices. Yet drugs remain the fastest-rising

cost factor in health care.

 

" The increase in drug spending is occurring despite relatively stable drug

prices in Canada, " says Paul Grootendorst, a University of Toronto professor

and adviser to CIHI.

 

" This points to a higher volume of drug use and the entry of new drugs,

which are generally introduced to the market at higher prices. "

 

Critics charge that manufacturers get around the federal price regulations

by introducing pricey new products which are not necessarily better than

existing products.

 

" Despite the prevailing wisdom that high-quality therapeutics cost big

bucks, we're overpaying for what we're getting, " physician and author

Michael Rachlis says in his recent book Prescription for Excellence.

 

" Costs are spiralling upward because doctors tend to overprescribe drugs,

particularly to the elderly, and they tend to prescribe new, expensive drugs

when a cheaper alternative is available. "

 

Yet Dr. Rachlis also concedes that some patients aren't getting medicines

they need.

 

There's a big regional variation in use of pharmaceuticals, with per capita

spending ranging from a low of $192 in Nunavut to a high of $688 on Prince

Edward Island.

 

The share of drugs in total health spending has risen steadily from 9.5 per

cent in 1985 to an estimated 16.2 per cent in 2003. That's more than in the

United States, where drugs accounted for 12.4 per cent of total health

spending.

 

Experts say that effective drugs can reduce the time that people spend in

hospital, thereby lowering overall costs.

 

But there is also a lot of concern about aggressive marketing by the

pharmaceutical industry.

 

From 1985 to 2001, total drug expenditure grew at an average annual rate of

9.7 per cent, well beyond what can be attributed to economy-wide inflation

and growth in the population, says the report.

 

© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. .

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story

RTGAM.20040622.wdrugs0622/BNStory/National/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.rense.com/general54/canadaanationofliars.htm

----------

----

Rense.com

 

----------

----

 

 

 

Canada A Nation Of

Big, Fat Liars

By Andre Picard

The Globe and Mail

6-24-4

 

 

Canada might be a much fatter and fib-prone nation than anyone ever

realized.

 

New research suggests that more than two-thirds of Canadians are overweight,

not less than half, as commonly reported.

 

The huge discrepancy is due to the fact that virtually all statistics

collected on the height and weight of Canadians are based on self-reported

data. It was assumed that, for the most part, people revealed their true

vital statistics.

 

But researchers who set out recently to actually weigh and measure Canadians

found the scales were being tipped a lot more than they anticipated. In

virtually every age group, of men as well as women, actual calculations of

overweight and obesity were 10 to 20 points higher than in the self-reported

data. Which leads to one obvious scientific conclusion: Liar, liar, your fat

pants are on fire.

 

Canadian health researchers and policy-makers have become increasingly

alarmed at the growing number of overweight Canadians. The only saving grace

in the statistics has been that Canadians were faring far better than

Americans.

 

But the reality is that Canadians are neck-and-neck -- or perhaps,

double-chin-and-double-chin -- with the United States as one of the fattest

nations on Earth.

 

Last week, Statistics Canada released the results of the latest Canadian

Community Health Survey. It showed that 48.2 per cent of adults have a body

mass index -- an approximation of body fat -- of more than 25. As such, they

were categorized as overweight. Among those surveyed, 14.9 per cent had a

BMI of 30 or more, and qualified as obese.

 

Contrast these findings with the results of a study published in this

month's edition of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

 

Researchers in Prince Edward Island went out and weighed and measured almost

2,000 adult residents. They found that almost 70 per cent had a BMI over 25

and almost 33 per cent had a BMI over 30.

 

" Our analysis suggests that self-reported weight and height data result in

significant underestimation of the problem of obesity, " said Debbie

MacLellan, a professor of family and nutritional sciences at the University

of PEI.

 

BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in metres

squared. For example, a 37-year-old man who was 1.8 metres tall and who

weighed 98 kilograms would have a BMI of 30.3, and would be considered

obese.

 

But if that same man fudged a bit on the questionnaire and said he was 1.9

metres tall and 90 kilograms, he would have a BMI of 24.9 and be considered

a healthy weight.

 

The good news -- at least from a scientific perspective -- is that

Statistics Canada researchers are now out in the field with scales and

measuring tapes. When their annual report is released next year, it should

reflect real measures of height and weight.

 

Besides giving insight into how high the real overweight and obesity numbers

could be, the PEI researchers collected data on waist size. (And Statistics

Canada is doing the same.)

 

Increasingly, scientists are recognizing that fat concentrated around the

belly is the most damaging to the health. It is possible -- though not

likely -- to have a high BMI and be in very good health; such is the case

with very muscular athletes.

 

Waist circumference measurements, however, leave no doubt. People are deemed

to be carrying excess abdominal fat if they have a girth of more than 100

centimetres (40 inches) for men and 90 centimetres (36 inches) for women.

 

The PEI study shows those measures are dangerously close to being average.

 

Prof. MacLellan and her research team took the obesity and

waist-circumference data and calculated the health risk to the population.

Again, their data were alarming: Almost 75 per cent of people were at

increased risk of health problems.

 

Yet, according to the same Statistics Canada survey, the vast majority of

Canadians consider themselves in good shape: Fifty-eight per cent describe

their health as excellent or very good, and another 30 per cent say it is

good. Only 11 per cent said fair or poor.

 

Again, these are self-reported data. Which shows self-delusion may be as big

a health problem in Canada as obesity.

 

© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. .

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.

20040622.wxhfat22/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/

 

Lots of dope there too. All that Canadian rock music and dope go hand in

hand. N